Things Not Yet Forgiven
by adriaticjellyfishsting
Summary: When Bolin is captured with the Triple Threat Triads, Korra wants to know why the brothers were involved with them in the first place


**disclaimer: I own nothing, only a computer.**

**Things Not Yet Forgiven **

It's quiet in the attic. Every little noise that isn't there reminds them that Bolin is gone, chained up in a dark cell somewhere in the city. Mako heaves a shuddering breath as he takes a seat on the edge of his brother's bed, still unmade, its weight sagging beneath him. Korra sits down next to him and tentatively puts her arm around him. She's not very good at things like this; she would have been better suited to the situation if he had been furiously hurling things around the room, trying to burn the place down.

"I meant it went I said that we'd get your brother back," Korra says, leaning forward so that she can see his face.

"I know," he says, "It's just so... empty here without Bolin. So quiet."

"If you don't want to be here by yourself, I can stay. Or you could come stay on the island. I'm sure Pema and Tenzin would understand," she offers.

Mako shakes his head.

"Thanks, Korra, but it's alright. I'll be fine."

"If you're sure..."

Korra leans back, and looks at Mako, his back hunched over and his hands on his knees. Suddenly he grips his legs tightly, and stares straight ahead of him.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to get everyone that I can to help us look for Bolin," he tells Korra.

She nods, but he can't see her. His eyes are glazed over in quiet rage and determination, locked on the scene outside the window.

And then she wonders, for the briefest moment who he means when he says everyone. She never got to finish her question about what Bolin was doing mixed up with the Triple Threat Triads. Korra knows that she has to ask.

"Hey, Mako?" her voice is a lot softer than it normally is; she figures that it may be a touchy subject, "What was Bolin doing with the Triple Threat Triads? I didn't know that you guys were friends with them."

Mako's fists clench, and he sits up straighter.

"I wouldn't call us friends, exactly," he says through gritted teeth.

Korra crosses her arms, and stares at Mako until he continues.

"Look," he says, "We're not part of them, if that's what you're asking. It's just that... we were all growing up on the streets together, and when we were younger, we did run with them, sometimes, but not in a couple of years. Some of them are old friends, though."

He doesn't meet Korra's eyes. She's a little scared now, to hear what comes next, but she has to know.

"And did you do what they do, when you were with them?" she asks, hoping for a reassuring no.

There's no response at first, and Korra's shoulders sag. It's so disappointing, she thinks, when someone that you like turns out to not be who you thought they were.

"We never got too deep," he explains, "Especially not Bolin. He never really did anything. I'd go out with them sometimes, though, and help them make their rounds."

Korra wishes that he would stop beating around the bush.

"Yeah?" she asks, suddenly angry, "So did you beat up innocent shop keepers? Destroy people's stores? Pimp out girls? Did you?"

She wants nothing more for him to stand up and scream that no, he would never do that, and she was stupid to think that he would. It's a new feeling for Korra, but her whole body aches with the need to be wrong. Deny it, she thinks, tell me that you can't believe that I would think that.

Mako sits quietly instead, his silence telling Korra the truth. A hot, bubbling rage surges through Korra, and she leaps to her feet.

"I can't believe it! I thought that you were different that them but you're not! You're just a bully, part of the reason that people join the Equalists in the first place!"

Korra is shouting at Mako, and she needs him to shout back, but he doesn't. He just sits there quietly, taking deep calming breaths as she fumes.

"Well?"

"Well _what_, Korra?" Mako says finally, glaring at her, "What do you want me to say? That it was wrong, that we shouldn't have done it, that I cry myself to sleep every night over it?"

Korra glares back, but doesn't say anything.

"Because I _know_ it was wrong, of course I do, and I wish that we didn't have to do it, but don't think that I'm going to apologize for surviving," Mako runs a hand through his hair, "Look, I wouldn't expect you to understand. You have every right to be angry, because we did do a bad thing, but I'm not going to say that I regret doing it, because I don't. I'll do anything for my brother, to give him the life that he deserves."

Korra bites her lip.

"Even destroy other people's lives?" she snaps.

"Don't act like you've ever had to choose between doing something bad to get by or doing nothing at all to die in poverty," his voice is rising, cracking slightly, "I didn't _like_ hurting people, but if it meant that my brother could have a meal and a warm place to sleep, it was worth it to me."

Korra puts her hands on her head and turns away, trying out the breathing trick Tenzin had showed her to calm down. Counting to ten in her head, she tries to compose herself so that she won't just shout Mako down. Shouting him down isn't going to do anything, she realizes.

When she turns around, however, Mako isn't glaring at her anymore. He has his head in his hands and he's crying, crying in earnest. Korra takes a deep breath and sits back down, trying to force the anger out of her system. She rubs a small circle on his back.

"I'm sorry," he says, trying to wipe the tears away, "Keeping Bolin safe has always been my number one priority. You have to know that I would never have done anything like that if I didn't have him to think about. I know it's not an excuse."

"No, it's not an excuse," Korra says firmly, "But," she sighs, "I know that you're not like them. I'm sorry for saying that you were."

They sit on the bed together for a long time, not saying anything. Still rubbing circles on his back, Korra rests her head against Mako's shoulder. She's not angry any more, just a little let down and disappointed that she hadn't realized that Mako used to be involved in with the Triple Threat Triads.

She's a little confused too, because Mako doesn't fit in with her idea of people who get involved in things like that. He's not a bad person, and he doesn't like causing pain, and it doesn't make sense to Korra that someone as reasonable as him would do things like that. It's not something that she wants to dwell on right now though, because he's right there, pressed against her, scared and angry, and he's her friend, despite any past crimes that he has committed, and it's her job to make sure that he is alright.

"Maybe," Mako says, sitting up and wiping his eyes, "Maybe I'll take you up on your offer about Air Temple Island."

Korra is not absolving him of anything just yet, and maybe he's done things that she won't be able to forgive, but now is not the time for her to dole out justice, so she takes his hand and pulls him up so that they can go.

"Everything is going to be alright," Korra tells him, squeezing his hand, "You're going to be fine, and tomorrow, we're going to find Bolin, and he's going to be fine too. I promise."


End file.
